


Out of Practice

by Ashmael



Category: NCIS
Genre: Dinner, M/M, Pre-Series, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-05
Updated: 2015-12-05
Packaged: 2018-05-05 02:51:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5358233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashmael/pseuds/Ashmael
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Gibbs and Tim had met at Norfolk pre-Sub Rosa? The first chapter is Tim's perspective and the second is from Gibbs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Tim McGee

I’m standing outside the restaurant, a million and one things running through my head and I realize that I’m chewing on my bottom lip again.

 

I’m meeting Jethro for dinner. We met yesterday at the Norfolk base where I work. It turns out that Director Morrow has him down here on some seminar or something. When I went to update my boss on a case, he was there and we were introduced. I’ve always been attracted to men who are a little older, but he’s different.

 

That salt and pepper hair, the blue eyes calling out to me. I’m short of breath and he’s holding on to my hand a little longer after the handshake, or maybe it was me. His eyes have spotted that pouty bottom lip and I end up biting it as I flush, bowing my head as I look up into those eyes, still intent on me. Remembering that I’m there to give an update to the Commander, I clear my throat and reluctantly turn away.

 

Later, as I was packing for the day, he’d appeared, perching on the only empty space on my desk and we exchanged numbers.

 

I’d just dumped my bag down inside my apartment when my cell rang and my heart skipped as I saw his name flash up on the display. He’d waited all of 90 minutes to call and he asked me out to dinner. I stood there and tried to think of an excuse that would sound believable and I couldn’t. Then one question bounced around in my head. _Why shouldn’t I?_

 

Taking one final breath, I walk inside before I loose my nerve. No one’s there to greet me and I scan the restaurant and I finally find him, happy that he’s turned up. When I get to the table, I sit opposite him. The light is low, but the place isn’t too dark and, in this light, his eyes appear a completely different shade of blue than they had on our first meeting and I find myself captivated by them all over again. When he realizes what’s caught my attention he smiles that soft smile again.

 

What am I doing? I barely know this man and we’re making small talk in the corner of the restaurant. I can’t even remember the joke, but it was stupid and totally broke the ice. Looking at him across the table, I can’t help but feel he knows that it had been stupid and he’d been trying to put me at ease.

 

He asks me to call him Jethro away from the office, and I agree. I’ve never known anyone called Jethro before and I love hearing that name. In return I ask him to call me Tim. I don’t know if he’s like this normally, but sitting there he’s charming and utterly disarming. The conversation turns to my past relationships but I’m being far too honest, maybe it’s the wine. In turn he talks about his three ex-wives though at one point I get the feeling there’s something else he wanted to say, but he seems hesitant, and I don’t want to scare him off by being pushy. I surprise myself when I find myself flirting with him. Should I pull back or go with it? It’s been too long since I’ve been out with anyone like this and I realize that I’m out of practice.

 

As we step outside I shiver slightly and slip on my jacket. Looking across at him, I offer him coffee back at my place, and I don’t know why I’m so surprised when he accepts the invitation.

 

We spend a while talking. I tell him about the call I had from Director Morrow that morning, that he’s asked me to work with their Cyber Crime Division for a month. At some point I notice the pot of coffee has run dry. I offer to make another and I’m already partly standing before he stops me. I sit back down and he reminds me he has an early start with his seminar in the morning. It’s only Tuesday and he asks if I’d like to have dinner with him again before he leaves. I bit my lip as I nodded my reply and he smiles at me. I laid my hands on his forearms and then, when I saw no resistance, I slip my arms around him and I kiss him. It was soft and gentle and it seems as though he likes it as he pulls me a little closer to him.

 

In that moment, I realize I’m really looking forward to learning about this man.


	2. Jethro Gibbs

Well, here I am, sitting in the corner of the restaurant. Tim, the guy I’m having dinner with hasn’t arrived yet, though it’s still ten minutes before the time we agreed. I don’t believe I actually called him and asked him to dinner. What amazes me more is that he actually accepted.

 

I’m here at the base in Norfolk on some seminar that Morrow had insisted I should do, and wouldn’t let me out of. I was speaking with the base commander yesterday afternoon when his assistant let in a visitor. This man appeared and he took my breath away. His green eyes are a shade that I’ve never seen before, his grip strong and the handshake firm. I’ve never seen lips like that…the bottom lip’s fuller that the top one and my eyes linger on them longer than they probably should. Turns out he’s damn shy, too. He’s got me feeling as though I’m a teen again, and I’ve not felt like this for anyone, not since Shannon.

 

I can’t help but keep looking at my watch and eventually the ten minutes become five. As I look up Tim’s just entered the restaurant and he’s already scanning the room. His head stops as his eyes find me and unless I imagine it, they light up when they do. There’s that smile again, just as warm and attractive as the one when I first met him and my stomach flips at seeing it again. I can’t help but take in his walk and the way he moves as he makes his way over to the table. As he sits, he looks me straight in the eye and I notice he can’t seem to tear his gaze away. I’ve never smiled this softly in many years and it feels good.

 

I can’t remember the joke myself, but it was stupid and it seems to have put him at ease, the smile widening as he looks over at me.

 

When we start talking relationships, I mention the three ex-wives. Something tells me he’d be ok with the memory of my girls if I told him, but something holds me back and I don’t tell him yet. I make an excuse and head to the bathroom. While I’m in there, I try and calm myself down. As I look at myself in reflection I huff out a single laugh. What now? I’ve not dated properly for years, I’m sure I’ve forgotten every rule. Dare I take the chance and open myself up to someone again? Sitting back down it briefly crosses my mind to make a retreat and I wonder if I’m too old and too set in my ways to start something new.

 

Those green eyes look straight into my blue as he picks up the wine bottle and I accept the refill he offers, though he does it with an elegance I was not expecting from him. I’ve asked him to drop the formality of the office and call me Jethro while we’re away from there. The way he says my name, it’s almost as if he reveres it, almost as if it is sacred to him. Sitting there I find him beguiling and it dawns on me I’d be a damn fool not to recognize that he likes me. I find this man beautiful and alluring, but when he was talking about his past relationships, it was obvious he was currently single. Then I wonder, if like mine, his heart is also out of practice.

 

As we walk out of the restaurant he offers me coffee back at his place and I’m not quite ready for the evening to end, so I find myself accepting his invitation.

 

We spend a while longer talking until the pot of coffee runs dry. It turns out he’ll be working in Cyber Crimes in DC for a month and he’ll be starting in three weeks. My whole body tingles at the thought I’ll have the chance to see him again and spend a few more evenings getting to know him better.

 

He offers another pot, but I have an early start in the morning with this seminar thing. He agrees to dinner again before my week comes to an end and I smile. I slip my jacket on and he doesn’t reach for the door right away as I’d expected. He reaches out and his hands gently rest on my arms before his wind around me and he leans forward and kisses me. Damn… it turns out he’s a very good kisser too and I become clay in his hands. I didn’t mean to pull him closer and for one brief moment I wonder if that scared him, but he continues kissing.

 

Now I realize that for the first time in so many years, I am looking forward to getting to know this guy better.


End file.
